Can't Get There From Here: New Orleans

The drive into New Orleans was flawless. No get lost – space in front of the hotel to un-pack the RV and then a secure parking space behind the hotel. Good start.

Before we took off for this trip our friend Robin offered to surprise Lily by flying herself and her Daughter Brianna to New Orleans and give Lily some needed friend time. We arrived in our World Mark (Andreas Mom time share) apartment about 4 in the afternoon and at 4:30 came a knock on the door. Lily and Brianna exploded with shrieks and tears (real girl stuff.) I think this was the most surprised Lily has ever been. In a couple of hours it was time for dinner and on a tip from people at Emeril’s restaurant we were sent to Herb saint. We walked about a mile and a half and fell into a non-tourist restaurant of very high quality. Everybody loved the food. I had a sweet potato soup with broiled and peppered peanuts; I didn’t offer anyone a taste. I followed it up with gnocchi in a wild mushroom ragout and it was also soooo good. We scored.

Day two we walked the French Quarter with Beignets, We all agreed that the Just For You café in Dog Patch has much better Beignets. Lighter, airier and less doughy. But how can you go wrong with a donut thing covered in powdered sugar and 5 members of the rebirth brass band playing on the street (snar, bass drum, trombone, trumpet vocalist.)

We walked down Decatur St. to Esplanade. This is a beautiful street with amazing small homes that can only be found in New Orleans. We cross Rampart and walked around Treme and then back into the Quarter. Great walk but the 4 miles of waling in the sun kinda knocked me out so we take the streetcar back to our apartment and cool it for the afternoon. My friend Reid had come back from New Orleans raving about a restaurant/music venue called the Three Muses on Frenchman St. So around 7 we head to the Three Muses. Frenchman st. is just a step over Esplanade from the French Quarter but it leaves the tourist on the other side of the street. The feeling changes immediately and the sense of a more real experience is there. The three muses is comfortable and friendly. The menu isn’t large but it does cover some interesting territory. The band was the Blues Gang a trio featuring guitar, harmonica and kazoo wizard who was also the vocalist who can whistle.

The Harp player was crazy good. Harp players in the blues vernacular can make a lot of sounds that are reminiscent of blues harp sound. But to actually play the instrument where individual notes are developed, shaped and bent without being buried in the mushy-sucky- reverb laden squall that passes for blues harp. The guitar player was very good. Confident without needing to always show you how hot he could be.

The vocalist had a husky alto voice. She also played a Kazoo with great skill and could solo as a whistler. Her singing style was evident in her Kazoo solos. The band is very good and worth seeing when they come to SF. We gave them the name of the Red Poppy Art House as possible venue; they would be good there.

The Three Muses experience was a highlight of the stay for Andrea and I.

On our last day we all went for a airboat swap tour. The swamp is the lower basin of the Atchaphalya (sp). The airboat ride is fun but the swap lands are stunning. Like the Bad Lands the swap is otherworldly. The moss dripping off of everything, animals everywhere and a clean smell from all of the water Hyacinths. For close to 2 hours we floated in tight little waterways with sunlight filtered through a Halloween canopy of vines, branches and hanging moss. Fun for everybody.

We left New Orleans in a drizzle on 10 West. The causeways start immediately and last all the way to Lafayette. It is a beautiful stretch of road – trees, swamps, rivers, canals, channels, bay and other watery stuff.

Andrea and I really are enjoying this visual treat. Lily is at the table singing (she is always singing.) I find some music that I know Andrea knows and the moment she hears it she starts singing. Andrea is a natural singers. She is one of the fortunate few that can naturally express the joy they feel in the song they sing. Her voice is big and strong and cannot be contained by the confines of public places. Super markets, elevators, and malls, in the house in the car ANYWHERE. If she connects with the song it is going to be sung. I love this about her. My mom was exactly the same way. If Andrea had a different family situation and had been supported in her singing, she would be it doing today. I have no doubt about this. Her sister was the chosen singer in the family and one singer was enough. Andrea was designated the Pretty One. She is the pretty one but she got short changed. My mom had a similar circumstance. She had been accepted into the chorus of the SF Opera Company at the same time she was about to get married (at 18) my grandfather forbade her from joining the company “ married woman don’t do that!” She never really forgave him and a big piece of her died with this incident. Andrea has found her way but with a little encouragement music would have figured deep into her life.

Currently 100 miles east of San Antonio and headed for Ozona, TX.